September 6, 2002

Substance Use, Dependence

or Abuse among Full-time
Workers
I
n order to promote substance abuse pre- questions about the respondent’s work status
vention, early intervention, and health and type of work. The NHSDA also asks
care in the workplace, it is important to questions that indicate substance dependence
understand the extent of substance use among or abuse. The classification of dependence
US workers. The National Household or abuse is based on the criteria specified in
Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) includes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-
IV).1 In 2000, the NHSDA reported 107.3
In Brief million persons aged 18 to 49 years in the
labor force, of whom 81.7 percent (87.7
z Among full-time workers million persons) worked full-time.2 This
aged 18 to 49 years in 2000, report presents data on the prevalence of
8.1 percent reported past heavy alcohol use, illicit drug use,
dependence or abuse of alcohol, and
month heavy alcohol use, dependence or abuse of illicit drugs among
and 7.8 percent reported full-time workers aged 18 through 49.3
past month illicit drug use
z In the past year, 7.4 percent Differences by Gender and Age
of these workers were Among workers, 8.1 percent reported heavy
dependent or abusing alcohol use in the past month, and 7.8
percent reported illicit drug use in the past
alcohol, and 1.9 percent month. 7.4 percent were dependent or
were dependent or abusing abusing alcohol in the past year, and 1.9
illicit drugs percent were dependent or abusing illicit
drugs in the past year. (Table 1). Rates of
The NHSDA Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA.
Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line: http://www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.
Citation of the source is appreciated.
NHSDA REPORT: SUBSTANCE USE, DEPENDENCE OR ABUSE AMONG FULL-TIME WORKERS SEPTEMBER 6, 2002

Table 1. Prevalence of Substance Use, Abuse or Dependence among Full-time Employed Workers Aged 18 to 49:
2000 NHSDA

Rates of use (%)

Past month Past Past year Past year

Estimated heavy month dependence dependence
population alcohol any illicit or abuse or abuse of
(000s) use drug use of alcohol illicit drugs

TOTAL 87,672 8.1 7.8 7.4 1.9

Male 50,466 11.4 9.2 9.9 2.4
Female 37,206 3.6 5.9 4.0 1.2

Age groups
18-25 15,190 13.5 14.9 13.5 5.3
26-34 24,464 8.7 7.9 8.2 1.8
35-49 48,017 6.0 5.5 5.1 1.0

By type of occupation
Executive, Administrative, and Managerial 14,822 6.5 6.5 6.9 1.1
Professional specialty 13,222 4.9 4.7 5.3 1.4
Technical and sales support 13,239 8.9 8.0 8.2 1.8
Administrative support 10,714 4.9 6.9 5.5 1.9
Services 10,047 7.7 9.7 8.0 2.3
Precision production, craft & repair 10,786 12.6 11.2 9.2 2.5
Operators, fabricators, and Laborers 12,428 11.2 8.6 9.3 3.0

By type of industry
Construction & mining 8,267 15.7 12.3 10.9 3.6
Manufacturing 14,610 9.4 6.7 6.7 1.7
Transportation, communications, and other
public utilities 6,541 7.6 7.2 8.2 1.4
Wholesale and retail 15,881 9.2 10.8 10.5 2.9
Service – business & repairs 7,883 9.4 9.0 8.7 1.9
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and other
services (personal and recreation) 8,320 5.9 7.7 7.4 1.7
Services – professional 19,125 4.0 5.0 4.4 1.3
Government 4,252 6.3 3.7 3.3 0.6

Table 2. Percentage of Full-time Workers Aged 18 to 49 Reporting Workplace Outcomes, by Substance Use,
Abuse or Dependence: 2000 NHSDA

Past month Past month Past year dependence Past year dependence
heavy alcohol use illicit drug use or abuse of alcohol or abuse of illicit drugs

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No

Worked for more than 3

employers in the past year 3.6 2.4* 5.7 2.3* 5.1 2.3* 6.6 2.5*
Missed work more than
2 days in past month
due to illness/injury 8.4 6.8 11.6 6.5* 8.7 6.8 12.9 6.8*
Skipped work more than
2 days in past month 3.9 1.7* 4.4 1.6* 5.7 1.5* 8.3 1.7*
SEPTEMBER 6, 2002
dependence and abuse were higher
among males than among females.
Prevalence of past month heavy
drinking among males (11.4 percent)
was more than three times the
prevalence among females (3.6 per-
cent). The rates of past month sub-
stance use were highest among
workers aged 18 to 25 years, and de-
clined with older age groups. Past
year rate of dependence or abuse of
alcohol (13.5 percent) and illicit drug
use (5.3 percent) were also highest
among the workers in the youngest
age group.
Differences by Occupation
and Industry
The rates of substance use and de-
pendence or abuse were generally
higher among workers in precision
production, craft and repair jobs,
and those who were operators, fab-
ricators, and laborers – occupations
that are dominated by males, who
have reported higher rates.4 Preva-
lence of past month heavy alcohol
use was 11.2 percent among opera-
tors, fabricators, and laborers, and
12.6 percent among workers in pre-
cision production, craft, and repair,
compared with 4.9 percent among
workers in professional specialty.
The prevalence of past year depen-
dence or abuse of illicit drugs was
3.0 percent among operators, fabri-
cators, and laborers, compared with
1.1 percent among workers in execu-
tive, administrative, and managerial
occupations.
Workers in the construction and
mining industries reported the high-
est rates while workers in profes-
sional services and in government
had the lowest rates. This pattern is
partially explained by the higher
concentration of males in the con-
struction and mining industries.5
Workers in wholesale and retail in-
dustries also reported high rates of
past month illicit drug use (10.8 per-
NHSDA REPORT: SUBSTANCE USE, DEPENDENCE OR ABUSE AMONG FULL-TIME WORKERS
cent) and past year dependence or
abuse of alcohol (10.5 percent).
Workplace Outcomes
Workers who reported past month
illicit drug use were more likely than
those who did not report such use to
say that: they had more than three
employers in the past year (5.7 per-
cent vs 2.3 percent), they had missed
work for more than two days in the
past month due to illness or injury
(11.6 percent vs 6.5 percent), and
they had skipped work more than
two days in the past month (4.4 per-
cent vs 1.6 percent). (Table 2).
End Notes
1. Questions on abuse ask about problems at
work, home, and school; problems with family
or friends; physical danger; and trouble with
the law due to substance use. For more de-
tailed description about abuse and dependence
in the NHSDA, see Substance Dependence,
Abuse, and Treatment: Data from the 2000 Na-
tional Household Survey on Drug Abuse,
NHSDA Series H-16, DHHS report no. SMA 02-
3642, J. Epstein (2002).
2. The 2000 NHSDA consisted of over 71,000 per-
sons aged 12 or older interviewed. Of these
persons, 24,215 persons aged 18 to 49 years
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
(NHSDA) is an annual survey sponsored by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA). The 2000 data are
based on information obtained from nearly 72,000
persons aged 12 or older. The survey collects
data by administering questionnaires to a
representative sample of the population through
face-to-face interviews at their place of
residence.
The NHSDA Report is prepared by the Office of
Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by RTI in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
Office of Applied Studies
www.samhsa.gov
(representing 87.7 million persons) were em-
ployed full-time. A full-time worker is a person
working 35 hours or more per week. In com-
parison, the Current Population Survey (CPS)
reported 87.3 million persons aged 18 through
54 worked full-time in 2000. (See Labor Force
Statistics from the CPS, Tables from Earnings
and Employment, Annual Average Data, Table 8
Employed and unemployed full- and part-time
workers by age, sex, and race, available at
http://stats.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat8.pdf)
3. Illicit drugs refers to marijuana, cocaine,
heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants and non-
medical use of prescription-type pain relievers,
tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. Heavy
alcohol use is defined as five or more drinks on
the same occasion, on at least 5 different
days, in the past 30 days. The NHSDA does
not ask questions about substance use at the
workplace.
4. The proportion of male full-time workers aged
18 to 49 in the occupation groups were: 76 per-
cent among operators, fabricators, and labor-
ers, 92 percent among precision production,
craft and repair occupations, 49 percent among
professional specialty occupations, and 24 per-
cent among administrative support occupations.
5. The proportion of male full-time workers aged
18 to 49 in the industry groups were: 92 per-
cent among construction and mining industries,
30 percent among professional service indus-
tries, 58 percent in government, and 56 per-
cent in wholesale and retail industries.
Table Notes
* Indicates difference between users and non-us-
ers is statistically significant at the 0.05 level.
Source (Tables 1 and 2): SAMHSA 2000 NHSDA.
Information and data for this issue are based on
the following publications and statistics:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (2001). Summary of findings from
the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse (National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse Series: H-13, DHHS Publication No. SMA
01-3549). Rockville, MD: Author.
Also available on-line:
http://www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.
Additional tables available upon request.